Objective Exploring children’s ability of delay of gratification in two kinds of situations（group and individual）.Method There were two conditions

In one condition

single-sex groups of 3 children were asked first to hold a discussion and agree among themselves on a single group decision and then privately to make individual decisions.In the other

the individual decisions preceded the decision agreed upon in the group.The subjects were 120 5-year-old and 120 6-year-old children.Results 53.0% of 5-year-old children’ personal choice was delay in condition 1

while 53.3% in 6-year-old

there was no significant difference.In condition 2

55.6% of 5-year-old children’ group choice was delay

while 55.0% in 6-year-old

there was no significant difference.The ability of delay of gratification of 6-years-old girls was significantly better than the boys’ in two conditions

（condition 1 personal choice χ2=6.70

P<0.05;condition 2 group choice χ2=15.15

P<0.01）.There were no difference between the personal choices of 5 and 6 years old in two conditions;the ability of delay of gratification of 6-years-old girls in personal choices of condition 2 was better than the boys’（χ2=24.30

P<0.01）and that of condition 1（χ2=7.68

P<0.01）.It reveals that about 65.0% of 5-year-old and 73.3% of 6-year-old subjects are consistent in their choice between the two types of decision.72.5% of 5-year-old children’s individual decision was consistent with the group decision

while 75.0% in 6-year-old.Conclusion There were no significant difference between the ability of delay of gratification of 5 and 6 olds

but the ability of delay of gratification of 6-years-old girls was better than the boys’.The group influenced significantly on the 6-years-old girls.The group effect reflected some type of group conformity

it may be observed that the more children there were in the group who individually preferred a given decision

the more likely this decision was to prevail in the group.